Term 2 Inquiry - How can we make a kite that will fly?

This term our team has been inquiring into "How can we make a kite that will fly?" At the start of the term I introduced the topic of Matariki and how the making of kites are an important part of this celebration (many believed that the kites were able to spiritually connect with the Gods and were a method of communication).
I then gave the students a kite template which we made and then flew one afternoon. Although we were struck with a windless day the students came up with many other creative ways to enjoy their kites as you can see in our PENN video below.


Although the children had a great amount of fun creating their kite from the template, I also wanted the students to use the design process of technology to build their own.

In the first lesson, I introduced the students to all the materials they were going to be able to access: material, paper, straws, popsicle sticks, string, crepe paper, pegs, sellotape, masking tape and cupcake liners. The class was then given an hour to design as many kites as they wanted and to choose and label the materials they were going to use.

Last Friday they were then given the entire day to finalise their design and use their imagination to create their kites. At first, many of the students were slightly surprised with the freedom asking, "Are you not going to help us?" I replied with a simple, "No this is your time to show me what you can create on your own!" and left it at that. (Although I must admit it was a lot harder to just step back and watch than I thought!)

Initially, I was tempted to jump in when I saw students cut A3 sized sheets of paper, which would have been a great size for a kite, down into teeny tiny diamonds, but I decided that I needed to let it go and I am very grateful that I did step back because...

The students learnt all on their own! Without me jumping in students were testing their kites coming back and realising that they were too small, had a string that was far too short or had piled so much on that even running at top speed the kite would not lift from the ground.

Looking back on this lesson I think I potentially learnt the biggest lesson of all... It is okay to sometimes just let go! I know from experience that I have learnt the most from some of my biggest mistakes I have made in my life and I now realise we must let our students do the same sometimes.